Friday, January 15, 2010

Liberal Campaign to Raise Funds For Haiti Has Been a Success

Yesterday I received an email signed by Michael Ignatieff. And no it wasn't asking for contributions to the Liberal Party, but a simple request to help the people of Haiti.

It’s time to stand with Haiti.

The scenes of devastation beamed from Port-au-Prince and elsewhere have shaken all of us. But they have also reminded us that our first instinct as Canadians is to ask “How can I help?”

Our ties with Haiti are strong. We have a Haitian community in Canada that has contributed so much to our national life, and Canadians across our country are connected to Haiti through friends and loved ones living and working there.

I know that you were just asked to donate on Monday. But this is not about politics.

In these exceptional circumstances, now is a time to come together as people. Now is a time to act. That’s why I am asking you to please support the relief effort in Haiti by clicking on one of the links below.

Yesterday, we asked the government to match funds given to charitable organizations for relief efforts and today the government announced that it would - which means that your giving power is now twice as strong.

Let’s show that we care. Let’s help Haiti in this time of need.Thank you,

Michael Ignatieff

This was such a good idea because they have the email list and by providing us with links, it took just a minute or two. And the major credit card companies are going to forgo their fees if you donate and charge it.

The Toronto Star reported that it was a huge success so hopefully other organizations or companies will do the same.

The Liberals sent a letter yesterday to about 100,000 people on their mailing list, asking them to donate to Haiti relief. Here's some of the text:

They aren't able to track actual donations, but they can measure how many people clicked through to the pages to make contributions -- and a whopping 50,000 did so, so far. That's a useful and heartening reminder of generosity in the face of the Haiti disaster. To see the Liberal letter, click here and please do consider making a contribution to one of the charities listed on that page. And if you are a Twitter follower, our Joanna Smith (@smithjoanna) is on the scene right now in Port-au-Prince and she is sending vivid dispatches of what she's seeing. For those not on Twitter, here's some of what she's been writing this morning:

National Palace is caved in. Unbelievable. Finally spotting other reporters.Going to stop by hospital first.

Rescue teams saved about 30 people from collapsed market (a 4-storey shopping mall) after communicating by banging on concrete